


Just Two Gals

by DroppedAllTheseOreos



Series: Just Two Bros [3]
Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/F, Minor Descriptions of Body Horror, Pre-Relationship, Selkies, non-sexual nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21601768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos
Summary: Poppy doesn't get why merpeople need to be afraid of humans. Saki just wants to take a swim but has enough time to explain things to her.
Relationships: Dan Kuroto & Poppy Pipopapo, Graphite & Karino Asuna|Poppy Pipopapo, Momose Saki & Poppy Pipopapo, Momose Saki/Poppy Pipopapo
Series: Just Two Bros [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1129556
Comments: 15
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place about three years before any of the fics in the Just Two Bros series.

Poppy loved her reef. It was a small but lively place, nothing like the sprawling, bustling reef where Graphite and Kuroto lived. Graphite had offered for her to move in more than once, probably to have more reasons to kick Kuroto out more than anything else but it was still kind of him. And while she appreciated the offers, where she was right now was the perfect match for her: vibrant and homey, just the right balance of action and calm quiet.

The only problem was that humans were starting to come to the beach more and more. Poppy didn’t understand why they would. She's seen the beach. It could barely even be considered a beach. Just a sliver of sand wedged between the low tide line and a thick hedge of twisting, tangling vines with small, waxy leaves. Every so often, a palm tree cut through the bushes, either curving down delicately and parting the foliage, or standing tall and proud, roots hidden in the thick growth. And when high tide hit, the ocean swallowed up the thin strip of sand, making it a perfect time for little fish to swim up onshore. They'd swim around the intertwining branches gobbling up bugs in the lower levels of foliage and the sand.

Even the place the humans arrived from seemed like it should drive them away rather than entice them to come. It was the one place the sand pooled, much wider than the arms length of walking distance the rest of the beach offered. And from that little island, it stretched back, leading further inland to a dark path where the trees sat behind high walls on either side of the path; separate but reaching out for each other, grasping and twisting their arms together to form the canopy of a tunnel over the sand and rocks.

Many of the previous merpeople living in the reef drifted away when humans started frequenting the beach, moving to places more secluded or inhospitable to humans. The ones who didn't move were already skilled at hiding or got better at it. Poppy wasn't exactly sure why they had to hide from humans. They seemed interesting. Of course, she knew about the whispers between the others, about mers who got fished up and never seen again, probably kept as pets or trophies. How humans would go around spearfishing them to eat. How humans were the ones killing all the coral, making more and more places dead and lifeless.

Poppy figured humans surely couldn't all be terrible, and there had to be some nice ones. But she wasn't about to die for her hypothesis. So she stuck to hiding in the reef during the day, watching beautifully patterned humans swim by with wide, curious eyes.

While she was out gathering algae one night, Poppy encountered a kind of human she'd never seen before. The humans frequenting her reef were always streaked with bright colors. Not as vibrant as Poppy herself, but their varied base tones of browns and pale pinks would have interesting patterns across them, usually in solid colors. But Poppy's favorite kind of human were the ones that had bright colors and flashy patterns across them. The best patterns were in the shape of plants and flowers. But the human she stumbled on tonight didn't have any patterns across them.

She watched them from a distance, hiding behind a big patch of coral when she recognized the split tail shape and usual headlessness that occurred from humans staying near the surface.

The human's skin wasn't a uniform base tone either. This human was mainly a warm tan color on their appendages, but there were paler expanses of skin on their main body. They stayed in place for a while, just treading water. Poppy continued to watch, noticing how the moonlight's refractions rippled across the human's body prettily. Enchanted, Poppy felt a small smile break out across her lips. Poppy ventured closer. They didn't look like they had any harpoon guns or nets on them.

This one looked like most of the other harmless humans who swam by during the day. But Poppy couldn't get over how they didn't have the usual swathes of striking colors across their skin. Maybe this one was sick? She could try helping them out from the little medicine she knew from helping Kuroto and Graphite. Poppy slowly moved closer, sticking close to the coral in case she needed a quick hiding place. The torso and legs suddenly floated up, and Poppy had to choke back a gasp.

She ducked behind the nearest rock and eyed the human warily. She stared for what felt like minutes, maybe even hours. The moment stretched out forever, but could be seconds for all she knew. The human continued to stay in place, just... floating there. Poppy crawled out from her hiding place, slowly and steadily making her way over to the human again.

Poppy grimaced as she took stock of the area around the human. Mostly bare sand, not good, especially with her swimming speed. But she _really_ wanted to see what was up with them. The human hadn't done anything dangerous or threatening, and they didn't have any weapons, she could risk it, and she was curious enough.

She swam out until she was almost directly under the human. Poppy couldn't make out many details about their form with the moonlight silhouetting them, but they still looked strange. They had the usual, wispy tendrils that grew from most humans' heads. This human's tendrils were much thicker than most others, long and dark, and curling gently as they floated in the tide. They looked strong.

As she got closer, she could make out dark purplish and brown spots and faint, jagged white lines across the human's skin. There were a few other patches of discoloration, too. On a darker portion of the human's shoulder blade, there were little pale spots, almost in the pattern of a sea sponge. Maybe their base tone grew unevenly there for camouflage purposes. Poppy gasped excitedly and moved in closer to investigate. This strange human got more and more intriguing the closer she looked.

Suddenly, the human moved, churning the water and filling it with bubbles as their tail and torso broke the surface again. Poppy panicked. She tried to course-correct, cursing her mantle and tail for not being more efficient for quick escapes. The human's face broke the surface, creating more bubbles from their nose as they dove down, and Poppy continued scrambling back. But she had mostly accepted her fate at this point. Whatever this human was going to do would happen, and she'd have to figure out how to respond.

As she braced herself, the bubbles started to clear, and the mass of black tendrils attached to their head started to settle, the human's face came into view. They were alien-looking, like all humans. But this human in particular had something... gorgeous about them?

Maybe it was just the way the moonlight gleamed off their face. Or the way their strong, dark tentacles writhed around, glistening bubbles clinging to them, framing the human elegantly. Or maybe it was the soft contours of their cheeks and nose. Whatever it was, the human looked ethereal, but kind and warm, and Poppy was entranced as she stared her fate in the face.

The human's eyes slowly opened as they dove further down. They blinked a few times and flinched when they saw Poppy, eyes widening and mouth opening around a muffled sound, bubbles escaping in a frantic stream. They swam back up, breaking the surface.

Poppy blinked owlishly. Why'd they do that?

She decided to follow them up. It didn't look like they were going to the beach, so getting beached and drying out when the tide changed wasn't going to be a worry. They were treading water with their split tail, curled in on themself, arms wrapped around their chest protectively.

Oh no, did they somehow get injured in their escape?

Poppy flexed and squirmed as hard as she could to swim faster to the surface, but it still took some time before she finally broke it. She burst through the water with a loud splash, and the human gasped.

"Oh fuck, this is actually happening," they said.

Poppy tilted her head, confused by their words but also excited to hear they could speak the same language. They had a high voice. Lower than Poppy's normal speaking tone but still higher and gentler than Poppy was expecting.

"Um, could you please not follow me, or whatever?" The human hugged themself tighter.

"Are you hurt?" Poppy pulled the bell of her mantle down around her head, trying to be smaller not to seem as intimidating.

Poppy breathed relievedly since the human seemed to calm down at this.

"No, I'm fine. Can you just go, please? This is really embarrassing." The human's cheeks were starting to turn a darker color.

Poppy had seen some the paler ones do this. They got red like the fish humans called menpachi and winced at touches. She backed up a little more so she could give them the necessary space, not wanting to accidentally touch and injure them.

"I just wanted to see if you needed help. Since it seems like you're missing parts of your skin?" Poppy offered.

The human glared at her and tensed again. "What do you mean by that?" They snapped.

Poppy squeaked. "The colorful parts of your skin!" The human's eyes narrowed, and their head tilted. "I assumed they're your distinctive patterns! To tell each other apart! They're usually dark and in similar shapes, but some of them are very bright and patterned! With plant shapes!"

The human's face scrunched up. "Plant shapes?" They repeated.

Poppy nodded. "Yeah! And the patches of skin go across like this usually."

Poppy let go of her mantle to trace the patterns across her chest with her fingers. Two from the shoulders to the collarbones, and then connecting across the chest at the base of the sternum. And then it covered the two mounds of flesh that were on the human chest area, ending right under them.

As she demonstrated, realization started to dawn on the humans face, and Poppy lit up for getting through to them.

"Oh wow, have you never met a human before— stupid question, of course you haven't." The human grit their teeth. "Hate to break it to you but... Oh jeez. That's not skin... It's... How to explain this to a merperson. It's like, a softer version of the shells hermit crabs put on. It's not a part of us, but it provides some protection."

"Oh?" Poppy said distantly. Her worldview was getting shattered, and she wasn't exactly sure what to do at that moment. So all humans just naturally looked like this one? Why would they need protection? Did they need it all the time? Was this human looking for a new set of protection then?

"Sorry..." The human winced.

Poppy slowly brought her hands to her chest, trying to focus on the feeling of her skin and stay grounded. "No... It's... okay. It's really okay..." She said slowly.

"Hey, c'mon breathe." The human said, their tone softer. They swam closer to Poppy, keeping their posture small and as non-threatening as possible.

Poppy nodded and tried to breathe. The human's hands left their chest, exposing their pale skin to the night air. She distantly noticed there were two dark brown spots at the peaks of where their flesh stuck out in a soft curve, and tipped with little ovular bits of what Poppy assumed were flesh. She saw those on some humans in the past, but their chests weren't as big as this one's.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" The human reached out a careful hand.

"Won't it hurt?"

The human blinked rapidly, mouth twisting down. "What do you mean?"

"Your cheeks were all red. When humans turn red, their skin hurts, right?"

The human blinked and shook their head with a heavy sigh. "That was something different. Anyways, you need to calm down. Can I touch you to help?"

Poppy nodded, and the human carefully took her webbed hand in theirs, and placed it just under their throat, over their collarbones.

"Okay, just breathe with me?" The human said, their voice soothing and warm, eyes concerned and brow furrowed.

Poppy nodded again and took in a deep breath when they felt the human's warm chest expand under her hand. Her eyes fluttered a little out of nerves, but she didn't have time to focus on that. The human was breathing out, and she followed suit. They stayed there, floating together and just breathing until Poppy finally felt steadied again.

She let out one last deep sigh as she pulled her hand from the human's chest. "Thank you."

"No prob." The human offered a half-smile. They were still nervous. "So, um... You come here often?"

Poppy gestured towards the reef. "Yeah, I live here!"

The human blinked, their expression similar to Graphite's when Kuroto said something outlandish. "How have I not seen you ever? I come here to swim like every other week."

"Were you expecting to see me?" Poppy tilted her head.

"Well, not you specifically. But if mers live in this area, I'm surprised I... Well, that is... um... never mind, forget it." The human flustered adorably, and Poppy just wanted to hold their red cheeks. Since they wouldn't hurt, she was curious to know how they would feel. She put the thought aside for now.

"You sure you don't wanna talk about it?" Poppy pouted slightly.

"Yeah, definitely. It's nothing." The human waved their hand as if they were brushing away the thought. "Anyways. This is a weird way to meet, so if we ever see each other again, maybe let's not talk about this experience."

Poppy felt her head start to spin with how far she was tilting it. Humans were so confusing. "Why not? And what if I wanna ask you about human things?"

"Why would you want to ask me about human things?"

"Well, you said you're here often, and you seem nice. So I have questions. Like why you wear soft, colorful shells for protection. Wouldn't hard ones be better if it's a situation similar to a hermit crab? And why does your skin turn red sometimes, and it hurts, but other times it doesn't?"

The human's mouth pressed into a thin line, brows still furrowed confusedly. "Yeah, I guess I'm here enough. Sure, I'll fill you in on human stuff. I need to swim anyways. Just uh... don't tell anyone I swim naked."

Poppy grasped their hands excitedly. "Thank you so much! I'm excited to spend time with you... What's your name?"

"Saki." They said with a little nod. "And you?"

"I'm Poppy!" she beamed.

"Um, nice to meet you, Poppy. Well, I actually need to head out for the night, so I'll see you some other time?"

"Around this time, next, next week, right?" Poppy said excitedly.

The human's eyes widened, and they looked a little nervous again. They nodded, "Uh, yeah. See you then."

"See you!" Poppy waved excitedly

Poppy watched Saki swim off towards the beach. They were a surprisingly good swimmer, putting their split tail together and using it in powerful up and down strokes. It was timed in rhythm with their arms to get to shore quickly. If she squinted, Poppy could almost mistake them for a weird-looking dolphin or seal.

She made sure Saki got to shore safely before diving below the surface.

Her entire worldview on humans might've shattered, but she was very much looking forward to learning from her new human companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I have a plan for a second chapter from Saki's perspective but this will probably stay as a one-shot for a bit while I get that together. I'm just very excited to get this part out since Poppy appeared in the last fic and I've been working on how she and Saki met since the summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I only said one more chapter last chapter, but Saki is taking this fic and running. Might end up having a little back and forth so I can describe both her and Poppy from each other's perspectives.
> 
> Also wow! Finally, a Just Two Bros fic from a human's perspective so I can try describing how the merms look later on in this fic!

Saki's day after her encounter with the merperson went by in a blur. She tried to focus, but during her explanation of the aquatic food chain to her first class of sixth-graders, her mind kept wandering back to last night. It only got worse once they got to the predator section of Saki's lecture where she decided spanish dancers would be a good example of how looks weren't everything in the animal kingdom. Saki figured they'd be interesting enough to keep her student's attention and linked some videos for the class to watch how they moved as she described how they hunted and fed on sea sponges. 

But Saki started getting lost in the lecture, distracted by thoughts of Poppy and fiddling with her ring nervously. She muddled through as best as she could, apologizing to her class that she was having a weird day and they could email her or come after school for help on the homework since her lecture was not the best. She thankfully found a video that described the nudibranches eating habits as some of her more attentive students shouted out search term suggestions.

Saki stepped down, sitting back at her desk while the video played and using the time to collect herself. Once it ended, she stood back up and started the powerpoint again going in as full force as she could to be invested in the rest of the predator and scavenger parts of her lecture to make up for the earlier, distracted parts.

Saki allowed herself a self-congratulatory grin, she actually made it through the first class of the day, despite the hiccups. The lecture was done ahead of time, homework was handed out, and the students were able to either chat a little bit or get a head start on it for the last ten minutes of class. When the bell rang, she finally settled in at her desk, sighing in relief that she could rest. Her joints were starting to ache again. She really needed to find the bastard that took her— A loud burst of giggles from the back of the class drew her attention.

A group of girls lingered at the back of the classroom, whispering. They didn't look like they'd be moving anytime soon. Saki sighed, pulling out her stack of late passes and writing their names on them. Kimi, Erin, Kelsi, Dani... One of them, with a head full of thick, dark waves and warm brown skin had her back to Saki. She was pretty sure she recognized which girl that was but waited for her to turn around to be sure since two of her students looked like doppelgangers from the back, but were completely different facially. She confused them before and was not about to do it again.

The girl shook her head with a loud groan of exasperation making her curls and waves bob and spring. There was an indistinctive burst of chatter at the girl's reaction and she threw her hands up, making her way over to Saki's desk with a serious expression as the other girls headed out in time for their next class.

"Ms. Momose."

"What can I help you with, Mele?" Saki tried her best to not look concerned, but whatever that was at the back of the class seemed like a fight.

"Is everything okay with you?" Mele's brows drew together in concern. "It's hard to see from the back where we sit, but my friends were wondering if you've been having like um... boyfriend or husband issues? They saw you playing with your ring and I was like 'it's on her middle finger' but they were _convinced_ it's on your ring finger and were freaking out about asking you, so I said I'd do it because all of them kept wussing out."

Saki had no idea what her face looked like, but she felt herself blinking rapidly in shock. The words 'I'm a lesbian' teetered on the edge of her tongue, but she bit down on them hard and cleared her throat, trying to think of something else to say.

"Um, well! That sure is a lot to unpack, Mele."

She grimaced apologetically but Saki held up a hand quickly. "It's okay to be curious!" She held out her hand for Mele to see and smiled when the girl's face lit up. "You've got a good eye! It is on my middle finger. It was my mother's. My parents moved back to Tokyo for work, so she left this with me to think of them for the times we might be too busy to keep in contact."

"It's really pretty." Mele said softly.

"Yeah, it's coral! Been in the family for generations."

Mele laughed. "You really like all this ocean stuff, don't you Ms. Momose?"

"I do. My family's been working with the ocean for years. I think the oldest records of my family were ship makers and fish merchants." Saki winked. "I guess you could say it's in my blood."

Mele snorted, pressing a hand to her chest instead of her mouth to cover up her crooked teeth like usual. Saki smiled warmly, proud that Mele was seemingly growing more comfortable with herself. Chuckling herself, Saki turned back to her desk. "So, I should probably write you a late pass. Where you headed, Mele?"

"Geometry." She responded flatly with a scrunched up pout.

Saki had to laugh. "Hey, I wasn't half bad at geometry when I was in middle school. If you were planning on stopping by this afternoon, maybe I can help."

"Really?" Mele's eyes lit up when Saki nodded and she took the offered late slip excitedly. "Thank you, Ms. Momose! Like, no shade on Mr. Yams, but it's like, I think he expects us to be doing rocket science by the final, so it's kinda scary to ask him for help."

"I heard Mr. Yamamoto used to teach astrophysics, so I wouldn't be surprised."

Mele's jaw dropped and she shook her head in disbelief. "What's he doing teaching middle schoolers then?"

"Who knows?" Saki shrugged a shoulder. "Now get outta here, I gotta prep for third period and you gotta get to geometry." She made a shooing motion.

Mele still looked frazzled but smiled anyways. "See you later, Ms. Momose!"

Saki waved her out with a smile, watching her go before turning back to her desk. Just three more classes today and then the afterschool study period, then she could go home and finally process last night. She rolled her shoulders uncomfortably and leaned back in her chair heavily. She did _not_ swim for long enough last night. How was she supposed to make it through the day with her joints aching like this?

Well, Saki knew the answer, and it was push through, take breaks and narrate her powerpoint from her desk chair with the wireless mouse if she really couldn't move. The students were probably used to seeing her incapacitated and hadn't really said anything yet. Sometimes she'd get advice on stretches from some of the more sporty ones when they saw her wearing a knee brace a few times. She thanked them and tried all the exercises out, and kept doing them, but she knew they were only slowing down the inevitable. Saki figured she had five more years before she was a mangled skin suit stretched too tight over bones half morphed into a seal skeleton. She did not envy the job of the medical examiner that would be autopsying her.

She pressed a hand over her eyes tightly. If only she hadn't lost her seal skin in that stupid wreck. Gods knew where it was at this point. She knew it wasn't totally gone, otherwise, her ring wouldn't be squeezing down on her finger in a maddening game of hot and cold whenever it thought she was getting closer to whoever or whatever had her skin.

Whatever, she could just go back to the beach tonight and take a quick swim to at least deal with the pain. She might have to talk with Poppy and teach them about human culture, but how hard could it be? It was her job, anyways.

Alright, break over. Time to start prepping for her eighth-graders, and a lecture on the human reproductive system that was bound to be _interesting_ based on the maturity level of some of her students in that class. She needed to focus up for this one, and not on the cute, bug-eyed nudibranch she met last night.


	3. Chapter 3

Poppy had trouble focusing on anything but the human she met last night. She really should've been hunting, but she ended up lounging around in Graphite's den the whole morning and most of the afternoon, chatting the sleep-deprived eel's fins off. At least she seemed to be helping. The more she went on about Saki and everything she taught Poppy about humans in that short interaction, the more slumped over Graphite got. Soon, he was latched on to his sleep rock, eyes fighting to stay open. She was sure that she was reiterating points over and over again in her spontaneous recap since there wasn't much to tell beyond the quick encounter. But she couldn't help it! She was too excited to see the human and couldn't even fathom what she might learn from them next.

"So what, you're really going to meet them again?"

Poppy nodded, the bell of her mantle bobbing lightly with the motion, "Of course! They're really nothing like what everyone thinks humans are like."

She could pick out a hint of white, bared teeth contrasting sharply from the green of his skin and scales, "Still dangerous."

"Awww!" Poppy clutched her chest with both hands, "Are you worried about me, Graphite?"

The only response she got was flared gills and Graphite burying his head in his arms, hiding away whatever expression he had on. 

She reached out gently with one hand to pat at the fins on his head, "That's so sweet of you. Don't worry. I'll be extra careful when I'm meeting them next!"

Graphite grumbled softly and she leaned in, "What was that?" She asked teasingly, "I can't hear you."

His gills flared again and his head popped up just enough to reveal his cloudy eyes, "Do you want me to come with so you don't get ambushed."

Poppy beamed, her mouth open in a wide grin, caught between laughing at how grumpy he was today and being touched by his concern. He took a moment to squint up at her, trying to get his vision to focus until he could make out unadulterated joy. He ducked into the safety of his arms once the second he realized; to hide from the force of that much positivity aimed his way.

She could never figure out why he was so hotheaded about showing kindness or getting it back. Well, that was probably for another day. The way Graphite tightened his coils around his sleep rock and wouldn't even peek at her said enough. Oughta let him sleep, or at least attempt it, and get going on the rest of her day— well, almost night now. Finding food couldn't wait forever, and better to hunt before hunger kicked in, after all.

Poppy gave him a few pats on the head then wished him a good rest as she slowly made her way out of his den. Some faint echoes of banging around and frantic mumbling got her attention. After the initial startle, she figured Kuroto must be getting an early start on whatever project he decided on this time. The immortality potion made out of lobster and jelly parts was a massive failure, and he was in a slump over it ever since. Maybe she and Graphite had given him too hard of a time over it... But then again, he did force them to try a few versions of the concoction. Her sample had turned her a blindingly bright blue and bioluminescent for a few days, and Graphite swears he lost a foot or more of length off his tail once they stopped it from being all chitinous and segmented. Graphite was already so long she couldn't even tell, but it upset him so much, she'd take his word for it.

While she was tempted to pop in and say hello, maybe find out what he was up to, Poppy knew that would take more time than she intended. Always got roped into helping or staying the whole night somehow, and she couldn't afford to waste any more time today, so she wished him luck in her head and kept wiggling her way out of the cave.

Without Graphite to talk to or Kuroto to talk _at_ while he bustled around and attempted to wheedle her into being a test subject, going through the rest of her tasks was really boring. At least finding a nice little colony of sponges to take her pick from wasn't too hard today, so she could go through that part distracted by thoughts of Saki. Though she made sure to pay attention when she checked in on her neighbors and gave them their requested items. After meeting Kuroto and finding her hobby of collecting odds and ends could actually be useful, she started using a repurposed fishing net to make carrying them around easier. It caught the attention of other mers, and Poppy became a somewhat popular person to come to if deliveries or odd item requests were needed.

By the time Poppy finished up, it was late enough for her to want to go home right away. But some odd splashing in the distance caught her attention. Odd and familiar because she'd seen it just the other night. But it couldn't be... Could it?

Saki said they'd be back in two weeks, but if they came back early... Poppy excitedly made her way over to the splashing, not even bothering to check if it really was Saki before almost popping her head above the water. The only thing stopping her from doing anything rash was remembering Graphite's sleepy, disgruntled concern. She flinched away from the surface and found some coral to hunker down and hide behind.

After watching for any hostile movements, Poppy started observing closely, making sure that the creature she suddenly swam towards was even a human in the first place (yes); then mapping out the patterns and lack of them on their body to see if they matched the ones from Saki last night (hard to tell from this distance but the "nakedness" as Saki had described their lack of a soft shell felt like a sure sign). Poppy finally decided it was safe to approach. She popped out from her hiding place, taking her approach at a leisurely pace this time instead of going full speed. It certainly wasn't out of a lack of enthusiasm, but she started reminding herself to be aware of Saki's space, give ample time to be noticed, and maybe not startle the human as she'd done last night.

Poppy's plan worked, and Saki was significantly less shocked to see her when she popped out of the water and called their name. Although the wide eyes and tense shoulders told her she could put more practice into greeting the human gently. Maybe not from behind next time.

"Poppy!" They said, a bit stilted but seemingly excited enough to see them.

"Saki! I'm surprised to see you again so soon." She greeted in return, "I thought you weren't coming for a while..." Poppy's hands flew to her mouth, "Did you want to be alone?"

The human blinked rapidly, then ducked their head slightly. Poppy was about to apologize when she noticed the slight smile on their face as they shook their head, "No. I wasn't really thinking about being alone or not tonight. Though, I figured I might run into you."

Poppy's shoulders drew up, her heart thudding in her chest as Saki met her eyes a bit shyly. Cute. That was all she could think in that moment. They were cute. And she wanted to learn more about them. Poppy wanted to know if there were more reactions they had that were like that, and what could she do to coax them out.

"Um, Poppy?" Saki's voice snapped her to attention, and she finally noticed the blotchy, pale and pink of Saki's hand waving in front of her face. A small band of something shiny and gold was wrapped around one of the fingers.

Without even thinking, Poppy reached out and gently took hold of Saki's hand, angling it down to look at this extension of Saki's body. She hadn't even noticed it before, but she had also been preoccupied with other things about the human. Or maybe this was something like the humans' soft shells, removable and not attached. Saki resisted initially, but Poppy continued to guide her with soft touches and eventually, they gave in, hand going limp in both of hers so she could look at the finger however she wanted.

The appendage looked simple, flat, and smooth initially, but on the back of Saki's hand, the thin band widened and roughened into little flat pieces that came together to look like a colony of antler coral, their branches stretching out to grasp and curl around a shiny red stone. From context clues, Poppy would guess that the stone in the center was made of coral as well, but all of it looked so different from the coral she was used to, raising doubts in her mind.

"My mother gave it to me," Saki said. And where Poppy was expecting the human's usual smile when she looked up, Saki wouldn't entirely meet her eyes, and the smile had fallen down at the corner slightly. They looked uncomfortable and Poppy released their hand quickly.

"It's very pretty." Poppy said earnestly, trying to ease the tension from whatever she just did.

Saki just nodded, still not meeting her eyes entirely, but they smiled wider. Maybe trying to appease Poppy, or maybe they were genuinely more comfortable. She couldn't be sure and decided to let Saki make the next move. And that move seemed to be stretching their arms high above their head, then flinching when the little patches of dark coloration on their chest slid over the water's surface. The human's arms came back down quickly and one went across their chest, now safely back under the water. Poppy knew it was rude to stare, but she felt her head tilt inquisitively on its own. Were they sensitive? Weak points, perhaps? The strategic placement of how soft shells covered that area up was starting to make more sense, now.

"Well, it is nice seeing you again, and all, but I mainly came out here for a swim. I might just go off, or if you want to come along...?" Saki's eyes darted around, flicking from Poppy's eyes to the rest of her body, and then a patch of water rippling in the moonlight, then back to Poppy.

Saki's mixed signals were raising little anxieties in Poppy's mind, and she wasn't sure what the right answer was. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Graphite in the back of her head reminded her of her promise to be careful, and she almost said no. She half expected the human to swim off while she was debating what to do in this situation. But she gasped softly to see Saki still there, treading water and watching her patiently. Curiosity wrapped its hands around Poppy's heart again to give it a firm tug. She smiled wide and nodded, breathing a subtle sigh of relief when Saki smiled a bit in return and tossed their head towards the open ocean, asking her to come along.

Poppy started swimming, remembering how fast Saki was from the previous night and knowing she'd need all the time she could get to keep up. Meanwhile, Saki took off like a shark; putting on a sudden burst of speed similar to Graphite when he'd snap his jaws at Kuroto in warning when the octopus got too loud. Poppy cried out in surprise, wiggling faster to try and catch up to Saki. She knew she'd fall behind, but she didn't think it was going to be this quickly!

Saki seemed to hear it, because they stopped their wild charge forward, whipping around to see how far Poppy had fallen behind. Immediately dashing back for her and Poppy brought her hands to her chest, trembling. How sweet of them!

The human giggled, brows furrowed like they couldn't believe Poppy's reaction but were amused regardless, "Sorry, I got a little caught up. I'll take it slower for you?"

Poppy nodded vigorously, and Saki started slower, keeping their head above water this time, as their limbs pulled the water, sort of like a turtle, but more exaggerated. They had a bigger range of motion since they didn't have all that bulky carapace and shell in the way. But Poppy realized she was falling behind again and started swimming to close the distance.

"You're really fast!" Poppy said when she finally caught up.

Saki's smile was a bit more strained this time, but they nodded and answered, "Yeah, I teach swimming classes on the weekends, so I have to be good."

Classes? Weekends?

The human chuckled, and Poppy realized her confusion must be very obvious. Her cheeks puffed out in a pout as she turned away to hide her embarrassment, but Saki quickly started explaining, turning their eyes back to the water, probably to watch for any danger, but their gaze flickered to Poppy every once in a while. How practical and polite of them. Poppy was so happy her first human was like this. She knew there were good ones!

"Humans aren't born with the ability to swim. They aren't born with a lot of things, to be honest. Their early stages of life are a lot of crying and sitting around. So classes are where you get a bunch of humans together to teach them things. And um, humans have really different schedules from merfolk, so we get two days to do whatever we want called a weekend, and then we have to go back to working for resources that'll help us get food and shelter."

"So you teach little humans how to survive?" Poppy could barely contain her excitement.

Saki nodded, "I never really thought of it that way since most of the kids just come for fun or because their parents make them, but yeah, I guess I do." Their nervous expression relaxed into something that looked pleased and Poppy felt warmth spread in her chest again for helping that happen.

"What about you?" Saki turned back to face Poppy properly, "Why are you so interested in humans?"

"You're exciting. And I'm learning so many new things just from being with you right now! I know that humans are scary and they've hunted us down in the past, but I can't believe that all of them are terrible."

"Ha," The sound burst out of Saki, sharp, but sounding hollow.

Their hands flew to their mouth as their eyes went wide, "I'm so sorry, that was rude. Just... My experiences with hu—" They cleared their throat, dropping their hands down to rest on their chest, "With other humans haven't been entirely pleasant. There are good ones, but sometimes... It's easier to focus on the negatives, I guess."

Poppy's lips drew together into a thoughtful pout. So humans could be just as bad as everyone else seemed to think, but there _were_ good ones. Saki just said so themself. And they were one of those kind humans, too. She never wanted to bring up bad memories to sate her curiosity, though. Slowly, Poppy brought her hands up, reaching out for Saki's, and the human hesitantly held hers.

There weren't really words she could think of. Instinctively, she wanted to say she was sorry, but it didn't feel right. So Poppy just held Saki's hands in a way she hoped was comforting, as she searched for the words that fit, until she felt,

'Thank you,' well up in the back of her throat. It sat there for a while, letting her contemplate if they were the right words. Then, she finally let it bubble forward with all the sincerity she had. "Thank you for answering my questions even if they brought out some hurt."

Saki looked shocked as they stared back at Poppy, mouth moving wordlessly for a while until they finally smiled. There was still an edge of something there, but Poppy would take what victories she could. "Um... You too," the human said as they squeezed her hands reassuringly, "Thanks."

They kept holding hands for a while, bobbing in the waves until Saki squeezed her hands one last time, gently tugging away and coughing awkwardly, "Ah... wanna keep swimming? I was kinda hoping to get a little more in before I had to leave."

"Oh, yes!" Poppy quickly let go and gestured for Saki to lead the way.

They kept talking along the way, exchanging general fun facts about humans, or bits of what their routines were like, dancing around the topic of Saki's past. Poppy's curiosity was still burning to know what happened exactly, but she'd keep it contained. Tonight was way more fun than she ever thought it'd be and she was satisfied with that.


	4. Chapter 4

Saki barely processed the rest of the night after she got back home. All she remembered was crashing in bed. Based on the gritty, dry feeling in her hair and on her skin, that seemed to be an accurate memory. She sat up, stretching, and almost bouncing to her feet on the way to the shower, which made her stumble. It shouldn't have been so easy to move.

Her first alarm started blaring before she could put any more thought into it and she rushed to silence her phone, finding it still buried away in her gym bag from last night. Once she got the alarm off, she decided she could wonder why she'd made a sudden recovery once she got to work, otherwise she'd be late. Saki ran the rest of the way to the bathroom, shucking off the comfy clothes she took to the beach, and hopped in the shower, feeling light and mobile for the first time in ages.

She was ready and at work before she knew it and wasn't exactly sure what to do with herself as she sat in her desk chair.

Saki found some National Geographic videos to play on the projector just in case she had some students who were ridiculously early like her, then took out the tupperware with her breakfast. Just a simple mix of shoyu and eggs over microwave rice since Saki was convinced she was already late this morning.

As she started eating, her thoughts wandered back to last night. She stayed out much later than she usually would with Poppy, but that probably wasn't the reason for the sudden shift in her body. But the only other thing she did differently last night was the pace she swam, slowing down to match the speed Poppy set... Huh.

Maybe that was it?

When Saki went out, she'd usually start out slow, but eventually work herself up to a pace that'd give an Olympic athlete a run for their money. She missed the gracefulness and speed that came with being a seal, so that was the only thing she could do to recreate the feeling.

But the way she was feeling now—her body mostly refreshed with only the dull ache of certain joints that'd been problems for ages—started to put a new spin on her perspective of her problem. Saki always looked at the pain of being unable to return to the sea from a seal perspective. It's what her body wanted to be, and it was the anatomy she was most used to, so everything she'd been doing was just light exercise for that form. But the relief from just a gentle swim, the human version of "light exercise" was a blunt reminder of what anatomy she was currently stuck in.

This was all new territory, and Saki felt stupid for not realizing something that seemed so obvious sooner. It's not like she could've asked for help from her family, either. They had a strict tradition of being born at sea as seals, so anyone who lost their skin was, in the politest terms, fucked. Saki was the newest addition to a short list of unfortunates in their family, and no one was really innovating ways to make things more comfortable for selkies like her.

Apparently, it was such an uncommon problem, the only solutions that they had to ease the symptoms of a lost skin were the coral ring around her finger, and getting the skin back before it was too late.

This was so stupid.  
Maybe she should see if there were any selkie exclusive forums out there and get people together to create better options than temporary fixes through old magic jewelry or whatever else other selkies out there were using.

But, if she did that or not, there was one thing that was glaring her in the face. She needed to slow things down to accommodate this human body and make the ring's attempts to keep her alive more effective. At least Poppy was a genuinely interesting and caring companion to have around for it. Swims like those would be so boring without the nudibranch talking endlessly about everything and anything that came to mind.

The door to her classroom opened, letting in a flood of students and chatter. Saki quickly put her breakfast aside to eat later. It wouldn't be as good after class, but it was a sacrifice she needed to make for professionalism's sake. Couldn't risk another lecture from the principal about that after all, she might just fall asleep in the middle of it.

* * *

As the next few weeks went by, Saki could see some stark improvements on how long the pain would stay away, and she felt a little sheepish for not figuring this out sooner. If she ever found those selkie-only help forums she imagined, then she'd absolutely post about this realization.

Poppy even seemed to take note, which was endearing and terrifying. It was nice to think that the mermaid was keeping a concerned eye out for her, but Saki thought she was hiding her discomfort well.

"You look happier recently!" She commented as she hid behind a palm frond while Saki undressed, stuffing her sweatpants into her bag.

Saki leaned back so Poppy could see her expression as she flashed her a quick smile, then went back to taking off her bra. "What makes you say that?"

The mermaid had been coming closer to shore to wait for her as the weeks went by, and tonight, she'd been waiting under Saki's usual place to hide her things.

"I don't know exactly, but something about you just seems happier. I'll keep thinking about it." Poppy said as she dragged her arm back and forth through the fronds.

"Well, let me know what you figure out," Saki shrugged, stepping further inland to hide a bit more from Poppy.

Her hiding spot was a palm tree that grew nearly horizontal, cutting through the bushes, but just where it would've started growing right into the ocean, its trunk curved up gently. It was starting to get taller, so the tips of the palm fronds were only kissing the surface of the water instead of being submerged... Well, Poppy was making them look the way they used to with the way she was pulling and twisting them in her webbed hands.

Poppy was attentive, but so easily amused. Saki chuckled at the sight, then went back to finally unhooking the clasp on her bra.

With that done and stuffed in her bag, she climbed on top of the trunk, making it bob and sway gently, but not enough to disturb the mermaid still splashing around in the shallows. Saki stepped as close as she could to the bushes hiding the base of the tree without falling into them and folded her bag into a little niche made out of the twining branches.

"I think I figured it out," Poppy said, voice quiet from the way they were back to back and the tree in between them. Saki hummed her acknowledgment, turning her head slightly in hopes the sound carried to Poppy better. The mermaid must've heard it because she continued, "It seems like something was always weighing you down before, but now you've figured it out or let go or something."

Saki almost lost her balance from the statement and quickly hopped off to avoid falling in the bushes. With her feet firmly on the ground, she sighed heavily and walked down into the water, only turning back to see if Poppy followed when she was chest-deep. The mermaid seemed to take notice but took a bit longer to rip some blades off the stem and stuffed them into her woven bag. Then, Poppy was swimming as fast as she could to catch up to Saki.

The swim towards Poppy's reef was silent, and Saki knew she made things awkward. She wanted to say something, but everything suddenly sounded stupid and wrong. Conversation between the two of them seemed so easy before, if Poppy pushed too far, she was amicable enough with steering around the topic and finding something new. They talked about almost everything and anything; the last time they met was an enthusiastic, if somewhat confusing, back and forth about sexual polymorphism and gender in merfolk when Saki asked what pronouns Poppy used. But Saki wasn't prepared for someone to be paying such close attention to her.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Poppy eventually said, and Saki stopped swimming so they could talk. Really talk.

Saki shook her head, "You just caught me off guard. I knew you were really considerate towards me but I didn't think you'd notice something like that."

Poppy's brow wrinkled and her eyes widened, "Was that something bad?"

"No." Saki pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead, pressing down, trying to find the right words to say, "Um, it's sort of like, I didn't even think about how close you were paying attention, so you saying that took me by surprise. I am glad you're watching out for me, though."

Poppy blinked owlishly for a few moments, then grinned wide, "Yay, what a relief to hear."

Saki smiled at her, trying to be reassuring and it seemed to work well enough. Poppy started swimming again, seemingly faster than usual, and Saki huffed amusedly, she had so much energy. When there was a sizable gap between them, Saki kicked her legs powerfully, intending to catch up quickly and speed ahead for a bit.

Before Saki could do any of that, a shot of pain went right through her head and she winced. She tried to call out for Poppy, tell her something was wrong but she couldn't get the words out as her head started throbbing.

Saki's whole body suddenly went rigid. She panicked, thinking it was her chronic pains coming back with a vengeance, bringing migraines along for the ride. But her vision suddenly going dark and her skin growing numb made her realize it was something very, very different. Her head grew heavy and she broke through the surface of the water, but instead of just doing a dead float, there was a dizzying, spinning, and rocketing forward sensation. She could feel the water pushing back against her like it usually would in this clumsy human form, but before she knew it, she was breaking through the surface.

Did Poppy realize she was drowning and pull her out?

Saki's eyes snapped open, and finally, the stiffness in her muscles released. She righted herself frantically, looking for the mermaid, and quickly realizing she was nowhere in sight. She wasn't even near the beach anymore. She was surrounded by open ocean, floating alongside a yacht being pulled alongside it as it drifted through the waters by some invisible force. The deck was brightly lit with warm light, pooling on the ceiling on the outside of the helm room and spilling over the sides through the railings.

Just as she was starting to question why she was here, a wavy-haired man stepped out onto the deck with a duffle bag over his shoulder. Saki didn't recognize him at all so she followed him, hoping to figure out what she was doing here. As they neared the bow, she noticed someone else had been standing on deck the whole time. In the warm light of the ship, it was easy to make them out against the dark of the night sky and waters. They were short, kind of stocky, or maybe they just seemed that way because of the loose, bright red and strange happi coat they were wearing... something about it was so familiar to Saki and the reason she was here started to click into place.

The second the man at the bow of the ship turned to face his visitor, Saki's blood turned to fire. Her heart started slamming against her ribcage as her hands clenched into fists, knuckles turning white. She knew who that bastard was.

"Do you have it?" He asked.

And just to add even more insult to injury, the taller stranger unzipped the bag smoothly and pulled out _her sealskin!_ In a old, beat-up, muddy _bag_ of all things. She could barely believe the nerve of these humans.

With total disregard for her current nudity, she started looking for a ladder or something she could use to pull herself on deck. She was _would_ rip her skin from their disgusting hands and punch them both out if it was the last thing she did. But just as she spotted the ladder the water started crawling up her skin, like hands reaching up, and wrapping around her pulling her down until the ocean swallowed her up. The familiar feeling of pressure returned as she was dragged back down, but was quickly replaced by soft, slimy, webbed hands pulling her to the surface.

"Saki!" Poppy cried out as Saki coughed up a torrent of water. She groaned and dry heaved a few times, feeling sick from all the seawater she must've drank while she was supposedly floating face down. Poppy moved out of the way just in time to not get hit by the spray, still holding Saki tight to keep her afloat. Once Saki had settled down and started kicking her legs in a half-hearted attempt to tread water, Poppy backed off a little, giving her room to suck in some much needed air.

"Saki are you okay?"

Poppy's voice sounded distant, but Saki knew she had to answer. With her mind racing and thoughts jumbled, she clung to the mermaid tight and looked her dead in the eye.

"Poppy, I need you to do something for me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some world building ideas that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to convey properly at any point in the Just Two Bros/Gals series, but I have two kinds of selkies in this universe.
> 
> Selkies born at sea like Saki have to go back into their seal form every new moon or they start getting chronic pains of their body shifting, wanting to be in the form they were born as/ the one that feels more natural to them. They could just live their whole lives at sea as seals, and there's quite a few that do, but Saki's family has a long tradition of using both options and have to live up to the human identities they crafted. Tho there are some relatives that spend their lives one way or another.
> 
> And since Saki doesn't know land born selkies and I'm not sure if I'll introduce any over the course of the series, I wanted to explain the flipside here. If they live at sea, they need to spend a night on land before they can return to the ocean. Otherwise they could just live their lives as normal humans if they wanted.


	5. Chapter 5

"So tell me again why you think we need to come out here, risking our lives to jump on a human ship and look for... a _bag._ For your _human_ friend that you still barely know, who'd probably have better chances of sneaking on than we do for very obvious reasons."

"Turn us left please," Poppy said, ignoring him for the moment to glance up and check for any hazards, before turning her attention back to the ring now on her pointer finger when she confirmed it was clear. "Also, rude! I know her more than _barely."_

Graphite kept grumbling but turned left a few degrees, dragging Poppy along, holding the nudibranch tight to his front, her head tucked under his chin. It was a little awkward, but they found it was the best way to swim, so neither could complain too much. The reason she even brought him along in the first place was that Saki's strange request would require a quick getaway, and Poppy wasn't built for that. Graphite wasn't really either, but he could put on a burst of speed when needed. It was mainly for attacking, but that could buy them some precious time when it came down to it. But the nice, even pace they were going at now gave them both some time to plan before they had to go on a human boat. And for Poppy to try and figure out what this was all about.

Since, before Saki grabbed her suddenly and asked for a favor, Poppy had been so worried! The human had just disappeared. Not even drowned because Poppy swam all the way down to the seabed and found no trace of her. But as she returned to the surface, the human suddenly reappeared in an explosion of bubbles and light. Poppy didn't even give the event much thought at the moment, rushing to Saki's side and helping her back to the surface, noticing how the normally powerful human was struggling to get her bearings.

Poppy didn't know much about humans, but she'd never heard of them suddenly disappearing and reappearing like that before. And she hadn't thought about it until now, but it was suspiciously similar to magic, and humans had lost their touch for it as far as she knew.

Maybe Saki wasn't as human as she implied, but what would she have to hide?

And yes, she probably should've asked more questions before coming out here with Graphite, but Saki just looked so sad and vulnerable in that moment that Poppy had to do _something._

The ring pulsed around her finger and she looked up, they must be close to the boat they needed to break into. As Graphite kept swimming them forward, eventually a massive, dark shape appeared in the water before them. Poppy tapped him on the arm and he released her, slowing down to match her pace so they could approach it together. There was a long chain, attached to a giant claw in the sand, caught against a rock and Poppy led one of Graphite's hands to it, giving him something to hang onto while they worked out a plan.

"Okay, so I think we should swim up there and maybe find the bag's location with the ring first, that way we figure out the best place to climb up and spend the least amount of time out of the water."

"That's reasonable enough," Graphite nodded once, "But what do we do inside? We have no idea what it looks like, and what if there's an ambush?"

Poppy's eyes grew wide and she pressed her lips together tightly as she thought. Graphite watched her for a while, waiting for an answer until he huffed impatiently.

"See, this is why I wanted to know what we were here for. There's obviously a lot more risk here than you thought. What if this is all an elaborate trap—?"

"Saki wouldn't do that!" Poppy insisted. "She's secretive, and mysterious, and I'm not even entirely sure if she's human anymore, but she wouldn't go out of her way to befriend me like this to try and kill me in the end. I can do this on my own if you're afraid."

Graphite's gills flared, but remained otherwise impassive. "Fine," He huffed, "I'll stay, but only so you don't get yourself hurt or killed."

Poppy glared at him for a bit longer, still somewhat angry for his baseless accusations, but then she sighed and smiled at him. "You big softy," she said, poking him in the cheek, which he batted away quickly.

Normally she'd poke more fun at him, but the ring caught her attention, the gem glowing bright red. It squeezed around her finger, then she felt a pulling sensation, like it was trying to drag her somewhere else.

"Graphite..."

"Yeah, I see it," He squinted at the ring as it started to glow brighter.

"Let's go," Poppy said, starting to swim up towards the hull of the boat when her hand lightly drifted away from her, the ring tugging in a different direction.

She exchanged a look with Graphite, and then he was picking her up again, swimming according to her directions until they were nearly onshore. They cautiously poked their heads above water, seeing the beach was empty. Poppy was the first to fully crawl onto the sand, despite Graphite's protests and demands she get back in the water. The ring was squeezing tighter now, it's grip somehow feeling like a reassuring hand, guiding her further onto the land until she was halfway up the strip of sand.

She kept looking around, hoping the bag was nearby somewhere, but there seemed to be nothing. Just when Poppy was about to go further inland, there was a voice that definitely wasn't Graphite's coming from the line of trees past the sand. Despite the frantic tugging of the ring towards the voice, she started scrambling back towards the water, not wanting to get caught.

The sand stuck to her slowly drying-out body and she wasn't sure if she'd make it back in time. The tide line looked so far away, but she kept pushing onwards. There was another indistinct call from somewhere in the trees and she almost froze, thinking she'd been caught, but a flash of greens overtook her vision, and suddenly she was being rolled and wrapped up in a chaotic tumble back towards the ocean. There was another sudden shout, much closer this time, but she and Graphite were safely back in the ocean and speeding away until they found a safe, crowded, and colorful place in the reef to hide.

Poppy thought they were far enough away from shore for any humans to avoid chasing after them, but she huddled close to Graphite when she saw them above, shadows passing by menacingly. Sometimes they'd dive down, searching around somewhat aimlessly, and she thanked their luck they couldn't see all that well underwater. It was then she noted with both horror and relief that they'd ducked into a patch of reef containing fire coral. On one hand, humans surely wouldn't come near them with that line of protection. On the other, while she and Graphite were both covered in protective mucus so they wouldn't get hurt, it was surely going to be an uncomfortable and itchy rest of the day once they got out of here.

She didn't know how long they waited there, but at least it was still light out when the humans finally left, heading back in the direction of the shore. They breathed out almost simultaneous sighs of relief, then carefully exited their hiding spot. As they left, Poppy noticed the ring stopped glowing, and it wasn't pulsing or squeezing her finger anymore. Whichever human had the bag must've gotten away in all that commotion, but it had to have been close by. She took an extra moment to pop her head above water, making sure to note down landmarks in both the reef and onshore to remember it when she told Saki about this later.

Poppy was glum for the rest of the swim back, and Graphite was thankfully quiet on the journey back to his den. He only offered some 'I'm sorry's for comforting's sake and gave her a little pat on the shoulder as he swam back into the cave. Maybe he sensed how upset she was about the whole thing, but now she was fully determined to take a page of his advice and figure out what exactly was going on with Saki before doing any more of these escapades.


	6. Chapter 6

Saki couldn't quite cut out the anxious feeling nagging at her gut as she drove towards the beach Poppy said she and her friend got a signal at. Things between her and the mermaid didn't exactly go well once Poppy returned with her ring. She had once again lied to her face about her true identity. Poppy didn't deserve that, not at all. But Saki had some secrecy to maintain, even though Poppy might already know too much. There was only so much Saki could wave away with 'Oh, just some weird human stuff, please don't worry about it, you wouldn't understand.'

The thing was, Poppy _wanted_ to understand. She wanted to know everything and anything she could about surface life. That bright optimism and curiosity were charming. Even when it was directed towards... Heat flared up in Saki's cheeks. She wanted to know everything about Saki, too, and that churned some indescribable soup of conflicting feelings inside her.

As she went down the winding path to the parking lot, Saki let out a long exhale, trying to vent out her frustration and forget about the previous night's conversation. She had something else to focus on here.

Saki popped out of the car once she got a stall. She tried her best to look casual as she strolled up the path, back towards the street instead of the beach itself. There were some people around and she didn't want to draw any suspicion or attention.

Fortunately, no one seemed to take notice, and if they did, no one said anything. Once she got to the top of the path, Saki dashed across the street, then started wandering around the open fields, paying attention to the feelings from the ring on her finger as it pulsed, squeezing then relaxing, over and over. It got tight on the drive over, which meant the men Poppy found couldn't have gone far from here, but now it seemed to be weaker, maybe even unsure, now that she was out here in the direction they had to have gone. She kept her eyes up as she pretended to casually stroll alongside the road, looking for a house that the man who stole her skin would be holing up in.

_"You have to tell me! We didn't just go through all of that for you to keep pushing me away!"_

Poppy's voice rang in Saki's head and she flinched. She knew. It absolutely wasn't fair to ask her so much of her and then give nothing in return, but... Even if Poppy proved she was kind and honest over and over again, how could Saki trust anyone with who she was? Out here, no one was guaranteed safe.

Saki started counting her steps to help her brush the thoughts aside. And once her head felt clearer, she started looking around again. There weren't many homes since the military base took up a lot of space—

Saki froze. She looked around to make it look like she'd lost something, then turned to head towards the compound, hoping that man didn't have any military connections. If he did, stealing her skin back would be exponentially harder. Fortunately, she got right up to the fence and the ring was loose, just pulsing weakly against her finger, so nothing here.

After pretending to pick something up out of the grass and stick it in her skirt pocket, she started heading back towards the beach. During the search so far, the ring gripped her strongest there. It didn't make sense, but after a quick stopover to her car to drop her shoes and street clothes off to reveal her one-piece swimsuit, the ring squeezed tight the moment her feet hit the burning sand. She didn't want to explore here, hoping she wouldn't have to look at the ocean today, but the feeling of a gentle hand wrapped around hers and started tugging her forward.

Saki swallowed hard, looking out at the ocean stretching out in front of her. An icy shudder raced up her spine as she tried not to think about Poppy, but the memories rushed to the front of her mind anyway.

Poppy's sullen look after the failed heist. Her reluctance to hand the ring back like she wanted to try again. The quiet voice she used to ask what that whole thing was about anyway.

And Saki could easily remember her paper-thin excuses and how they caught in her throat, instead of rolling off her tongue like they usually did. The way fear and reluctance churned in her gut as she debated with herself to come clean or stay quiet. 

As Saki waded further out to sea, still absentmindedly following the pull of the ring to her seal skin, she remembered the hurt in Poppy's huge eyes and trembling voice as she practically yelled, "You just disappeared!"

Saki flinched guiltily. That reveal had been a shock. All this time, she just thought she passed out, but to learn that the ring was actually capable of taking her to her skin, even briefly. She still didn't know what it meant besides her ruse was up.

She should've come clean to Poppy right then and there, but fear gripped her in that moment and she ran. And now their relationship had probably been ruined forever. Even if it was for the best, she couldn't help but hate the crushing loneliness that came from that thought. 

Saki came to a complete stop, unsteadily treading water and staring down into the rippling blue void staring back at her as she tried to get her breathing under control. She hadn't even noticed when she started hyperventilating like she was about to cry, but she couldn't deal with that now. She was so close, she had to get a grip—

The feeling of the hand wrapped gently around hers returned, this time pulling her back towards the shore. She took her hand out of the water, glaring at the ring.

"What do you want from me?" She whispered harshly to it. "First you're pulling me towards the seal skin and now you're taking me back?"

The ring continued its insistent, gentle tugging, offering no visions or teleporting or any of the other weird things it could be doing. Saki stayed there for a while, just glaring down at it, but as she did, she slowly became more aware of the state she was in. Shaking, eyes watery and straining as tears threatened to roll down her face, her breath coming out in stuttering gasps every so often. Her legs had pins and needles, feeling otherwise numb and her mouth was dry, no amount of swallowing helping to ease the feeling. The more she tried, the worse it got, actually.

Somehow, the ring sensed her distress and helped guide her away from making a hasty, stupid decision. Saki took some slow, deep breaths to get herself back together, then started swimming back into shore.

After toweling off and getting back to her car she stared out at the ocean and gripping the steering wheel tight. At least she learned two things today.

One, having two merpeople suddenly chase his men onto the beach probably let the skin stealer know that he should get it to a safer place. That meant the boat was more dangerous than whatever safe house he had and it was back there.

Two, and even more important, she didn't want to let Poppy go, and she needed to find her and apologize.


	7. Chapter 7

Poppy wasn't sure how long it had been since she last saw Saki, but it had been a while. For the first few days, she spent her free time in Graphite's den, hanging out with Kuroto. Poppy didn't really want to spend it with Graphite, fearing the "I told you so," she was inevitably going to get. As much as she wanted to agree with him, she still couldn't find it in herself to really be upset with the maybe-maybe-not human. Poppy ended up playing conversations with the eel in her head over and over, of him berating her for getting attached or not listening to him.

And in those scenarios, she wanted to scream and agree and feel betrayed and furious with Saki. But she kept remembering those sad eyes and the way she hesitated before she lied. And then that would lead Poppy to remember all the good times they had: swimming together, Saki teaching her about human culture, and Poppy returning the favors with descriptions of her day and her life. Even them just floating on their backs, close enough to let their hands intertwine if they just moved a bit closer, staring up at the stars quietly, hearing nothing but the ocean and Saki's slow, steady breathing. Those were all precious moments. And the more she thought about it or tried to be angry, the more upset she got at herself and her imaginary Graphite for even trying to be mad at Saki.

There was clearly something going on with her, and as much as it hurt not to know what was affecting Saki after all they'd done together, at the end of the day, it was still Saki's life. It was her choice to reveal what she wanted. And a consequence of that might just have to be Poppy leaving her life if she continued keeping all these dangerous secrets, and they'd both have to make peace with that at the end of the day.

The only question was when that day would come.

For now, Poppy avoided the beach at night as much as she could, only going to scavenge in the day and ending it curled up in a corner of Kuroto's workroom, trying to sulk or make small talk with him. When she arrived, Kuroto looked like he wanted to yell at her to get out of the way, but every time, he'd give her a once over, sigh heavily, and let her stay. "Just don't bother my work," he would order, then went right back to working on whatever his project for the day was.

Today, he had a chunk of dead coral on the work rock. Poppy tried her best to be quiet and watch as Kuroto bustled about the cave, pulling out bottles from shelves or bundles of nets and mixing their contents with samples of coral. The octopus was a flurry of motion, tentacles going everywhere, passing things to each other or to his hands, mixing, shaking, grabbing, propelling him around the room to collect something else. Absolute chaos, but in an interesting, almost soothing way. Poppy could pick out a rhythm to the way he moved and found some calm in the familiarity of the actions, even if they were brisk compared to the deliberate way she scavenged those supplies for him.

Unfortunately, she decided to plant herself right under a shelf he kept coming back to, leading her to get under-tentacle and smacked in the face a few times as he breezed by, on a rush to the next thing to grab or text to consult. He didn't even apologize or seem to notice, so Poppy tried to let it go. But after the sixth time, she ended up moving in a huff. She already wasn't in the mood for this, but she also didn't want to be alone.

Kuroto had his back to her, and his shoulders raised like he wanted to yell, but he just sighed forcefully, the gills on the sides of his ribs and the siphon opening exasperatedly. After a few more flares of his gills, he slowly turned to her. His jaw clenched and unclenched and he had to take another deep breath, closing his eyes as he did, before he finally addressed her.

"Poppy, look, if you want company, you know I'm not the best right now. I appreciate the constant deliveries of supplies these past few days, but I'm very busy, and you know exactly where Graphite is."

Poppy sighed, "Yes, I know... Oh um..." one of the bottles started to fizz and glow, foam building up inside it and bubbling up towards the top. "Kuroto..." She pointed to the work rock behind him and he whirled around, dashing over to observe the reaction, then tried to contain it. 

As Kuroto struggled to shove the cork back into the bottle, he looked at Poppy once more. "Look, Graphite's been all crabby, but I'm sure he wants to see you, and he will be more accommodating than me. Just trust me, Poppy. You both need to talk this through. I always know best, don't I?"

Poppy's face crinkled up as she thought about confronting Graphite.

"You don't believe me at all, do you?" Kuroto's voice trembled as he finally shoved the cork the rest of the way in, letting out a relieved sigh as he set it back on the work rock, then put his hands on his hips.

Shrugging, Poppy looked off to the side. "I just don't want to see him right now. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, what are you afraid of?"

Poppy growled, throwing her hands up, "I don't want to have to listen to him lecture me about getting close to humans and hearing an 'I told you so' about getting my heart broken, okay?"

Silence filled the space between them, save for the background noise of the bottle still fizzing away, making little clinking noises as it feebly rattled against the table. Poppy pursed her lips, then a gentle hand took her by the chin, tilting her face back up to meet Kuroto's surprisingly serious expression, then returned to his side.

"Please just do this. If not for yourself or Graphite, then for me?"

Poppy tried her best to keep the pout on her face, but it slowly spread into a grin, "That's bold of you, asking me for a favor when that's all you do."

"Well, that's because I know you're too kind and easily exploitable. You won't do things for yourself, but when it's for others, you'll do it faster than anything. It's a weakness you really ought to work on, but if I can use it to my advantage, I'm not complaining about it." He held his arms out in a wide, exaggerated shrug, the hint of a smirk on his face.

Poppy crossed her arms huffily, but smiled up at him, _"Fine,_ you win. I'll go see him."

"So predictable," Kuroto smirked. Then waved his hands to shoo her off towards Graphite's room.

She sighed, then slowly made her way down the tunnel to where Graphite usually stayed. As she made her way down the path, keeping a hand on the wall to steady herself, and also give herself a physical anchor. Just at the edge of his room, Poppy stalled. He was there, near the center of the room, all curled up around his favorite rock, looking like he was sleeping. She almost convinced herself that that was enough of an excuse to leave for the day, after all, she confirmed it was getting pretty late after peering up at the hole in the roof of his room, letting light from the surface gently trickle down. Graphite would be getting up to hunt, and she would need to head back to her own place to sleep...

Poppy squirmed in place. No, she shouldn't back down from this situation. This was something they needed to address between the two of them.

As she made her way inside, Graphite stirred and slowly raised his head, "I was wondering if you'd come in or not." He smirked.

Poppy's cheeks puffed out, "You were awake the whole time?"

"More or less." He shrugged, "So, you coming in or what?"

After taking another moment to pout at him, she swam in the rest of the way, settling near him as he slowly unraveled his tail, leaving it open towards her. Poppy froze. He only offered this when she was really upset. She could probably count the times they'd done this on her hands. Well, even if he was going to lecture her, at least she could have some comfort through it. Poppy sat herself down in the loose coil of his tail quickly and he gently wrapped it around her. Once she was settled in, Graphite squinted and his tail shifted a bit, probably getting a feel for her position, making sure she was comfortable. And when he seemed satisfied with that, he wrapped his upper body back around the rock and rested on it, eyes closing once more.

"What? No lecture about how humans are bad and I should've listened to you?" Poppy tried her best to keep her tone light, but she felt the strain in her throat and could hear the way her voice trembled.

Graphite simply shook his head and wrapped around her a bit tighter. "We'll save that for some other time. Even I can see that you're upset."

Her shoulders tensed, raising until she was practically curling in on herself again. And all the while, her body trembled, like she was about to cry. Graphite's tail squeezed her reassuringly, and after a few more shudders wracked her body, she finally let the tension bleed out, grabbing the end of his tail and clinging to it as she settled into the rest of his coils.


	8. Chapter 8

After another day to get her feelings sorted out, Poppy felt more confident returning to her reef. There wasn't any tension anymore as she went about her day, hating the memories of Saki in this place, or fear of seeing her unexpectedly. If she did or didn't show up, Poppy felt ready to face whatever came.

As she started pulling up some sponges for a mid-afternoon snack, something splashed into the water above her. Poppy's heart slammed into her chest, humans shouldn't have been around, she made sure to check, but when she looked up, she came face to face with a familiar human. Saki's brows were raised in surprise when their gazes met, but her expression settled into something neutral. The human pointed towards the surface, and Poppy nodded, the two of them swimming up together.

Once they surfaced, Poppy restrained herself from hugging the human, overjoyed to see her again. And from the smile on Saki's face, she looked happy to see Poppy again, too, though the furrow in her brows was worrying.

"Hey," Saki said as her shoulders tensed up.

"Hi," Poppy greeted back, doing her best to smile reassuringly. "You're wearing clothes this time."

Saki looked down at herself, then met Poppy's eyes again, her cheeks turning a faint pink, "Ah, um, yes." She laughed nervously, "It's not at night and I just wanted to find you, and more people are more likely to be here right now, so..."

Poppy nodded, "Ah, I see."

Saki nodded back, then said, "I'm sorry."

Poppy immediately held her hands up, wanting to stop the human and tell her they were okay, but Saki slowly reached out and brought them back down into the water.

"It's really important that I say this, so unless you don't want to hear it or want to say something first, can I please tell you?"

Swallowing around the lump in her throat and slowly sliding her hands out of Saki's grip, Poppy nodded. She pressed her hands tightly to her chest, like that would calm the way it was beating so fast.

"I'm a selkie." Saki confessed and Poppy blinked in surprise. That... actually explained a lot, but opened up so many more questions, so she leaned in interestedly to listen. 

"I have to go to sea once a month, and about two years ago, the wrong person must've seen me take my sealskin for a swim. I was kidnapped and taken onto a boat by this man." Saki cringed a little as she said his name, "Johnny Maxima."

Poppy's face scrunched up, too, "What a strange name."

Saki chuckled surprisedly, "Right? He's a businessman, mainly deals in technology, and I think that's a fake name he uses for his company. Anyway, he's also very interested in people like you and me. I have no idea for what or why, but he took my seal skin and I've been hunting him down ever since."

"So the boat Graphite and I went to...?"

"Different boat," Saki shook her head. "I may or may not have had a part in crashing the one he took me on." She grinned and Poppy couldn't help but grin back. "There were a couple other selkies and one merperson on board, so they were able to get out okay. Of course, I was the only one who didn't make it out with my seal skin."

"In the bag," Poppy giggled.

Saki's brow furrowed confusedly, "Yes, in the bag."

Shaking her head as she laughed again, Poppy explained, "I wish you'd been there with me and Graphite, he was so grumpy about it. 'Ugh, we're just here for a bag? Tell her to go get it herself.'" She dropped her voice and made it gruff. Not really close to how Graphite sounded, but at least Saki seemed to think it was funny.

"He sounds fun." She chortled.

Poppy nodded, "I think you two would get along, honestly."

Saki seemed doubtful of that, and it only made Poppy want to introduce them more. She smiled, thinking about it briefly, then tilted her head as she eyed the light purple bands over Saki's shoulders.

"So, why don't you usually swim with this on?" Poppy reached out and brushed a hand against the swimsuit strap.

Saki's cheeks flushed pink again, "Swimming helps ease my chronic pain from my human bones trying to turn into seal ones. Not sure how or why exactly, but the more direct contact I get with the water, the more it helps."

Poppy nodded, then took a deep breath before asking the question that had been on her mind since their fight.

"Why were you so afraid to trust me?"

Saki's face dropped, staring into the water between them instead of at Poppy. Her hand came up to gently rest over Poppy's on her shoulder.

"He has merpeople working with him. Maxima. They weren't like any merfolk I'd seen or heard about before, but also I hadn't met many at that point. I felt like I didn't have anyone I could trust out here, in the ocean or out of it." She squeezed Poppy's hand lightly and finally met her gaze again.

"I stayed wary, but getting to know you really helped me. And I'm sorry for letting that fear get the better of me and kept me from opening up to you when you were probably scared and needed it."

Poppy trembled but was still grinning wide. She pulled Saki in for a tight hug. There were still things to work out, and she was more determined than ever to help Saki out now that she knew what was going on with her. But right now, Poppy was just happy they were still friends and could try again. Saki tensed up in her arms at first, but slowly, her arms came up and held her tight as well, burying her face in Poppy's shoulder.

Poppy smiled and rested her forehead against the top of Saki's head. Yes, they could definitely make this work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAA It's done! It's a little messy since I had some plot points change between chapters but I'm pretty happy with how it is.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading this far and hopefully see you in the next installment of this AU!


End file.
